India’s merchandise exports fall for 16th straight month

New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) India’s merchandise exports in March were valued at $22.72 billion, down 5.47 percent in dollar terms against $24.03 billion in the like month of last year, suggesting a decline for the 16th straight month.

Cumulatively, for the fiscal year 2015-16, exports were down 15.85 percent in dollar terms at $261.14 billion against $310.34 billion, according to official data on foreign trade released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday.

The data showed that imports declined by 21.56 percent to $27.78 billion in March this year from $35.42 billion in same month a year ago.

Cumulative imports for 2015-16 were worth more than $379.59 billion, which was 15.28 percent fall from $448.03 billion worth recorded for 2014-15.